Elon Musk’s Boring Company proposes building a tunnel to Dodger Stadium

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Easing congestion around Dodger Stadium before (and after) Dodger games remains a hot topic. Elon Musk’s Boring Company on Wednesday announced a proposal to build a 3.6-mile underground tunnel to get people in and out of the 56,000-seat stadium. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

Elon Musk’s tunneling company has proposed a solution to the traffic problems fans experience getting to Dodgers games.

His Hawthorne-based Boring Company on Wednesday proposed a 3.6-mile underground tunnel to Dodger Stadium called the Dugout Loop – a “zero-emissions, high-speed, underground public transportation system” that would take fans from one of three Metro Red Line stations to the stadium in less than four minutes.

Instead of driving to Chavez Ravine in stop-and-go traffic, passengers would load into electric skates that could transport approximately 1,400 fans from East Hollywood, Koreatown or Los Feliz to Dodger Stadium. These pod-like electric skates, which could carry 8-16 passengers at a time, would travel up to 150 miles per hour.

Fares are not finalized, but the trip is expected to cost about $1, and riders would be able to purchase tickets in advance through a mobile app.

“Whether it is flying overhead in an aerial transit system or bypassing traffic through an underground tunnel, we are always looking for innovative ways to make it easier for Dodgers fans to get to a game,” Tucker Kain, the Dodgers’ chief financial officer, said in a statement. “We are committed to working with our neighbors and fans as the project moves forward.”

If approved by the various government agencies that have to review the project, construction of the tunnel would take about 14 months, the company estimates. The Boring Company said it would pay the entire, undisclosed cost.

Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti sounded interested in the idea of a privately funded project in a city that already has committed to $120 billion worth of work on 28 projects leading up to 2028, when Los Angeles will host the Summer Olympics.

In a tweet, Garcetti called the proposal innovative.

“Always exciting to see innovative ideas like the proposed Dugout Loop to @Dodgers Stadium that could help ease congestion on our roads and make our most iconic destinations more accessible to everyone,” he wrote.

Always exciting to see innovative ideas like the proposed Dugout Loop to @Dodgers Stadium that could help ease congestion on our roads and make our most iconic destinations more accessible to everyone. https://t.co/vleQtpUqnt

Musk, the founder of electric automobile maker Tesla and Hawthorne-based space exploration firm SpaceX, in May detailed the Boring Company’s plans to build mass transit tunnels beneath L.A., a system he said will carry people from downtown to LAX, a distance of 11 miles, in eight minutes.

“This system is designed to be more like a highway and a bunch of off-ramps and loops connecting to the highway, kind of like cars,” Musk said. “Almost like an autonomous underground, multi-level car system … that costs a dollar.”

While the aim of the Dugout Loop is to reduce traffic and parking issues around Elysian Park, the system would only carry a small fraction of the average number of fans who attend a Dodgers game.

Initially, the system would carry just 1,400 people per event – about 2.5 percent of the average Dodger Stadium crowd. That could eventually expand to 2,800 per game.

The Boring Company is making its studies available for public review from Aug. 16 to Sept. 17. A hearing will be held at Dodger Stadium on Aug. 28 from 6:15 p.m. to 9 p.m.
According to The Boring Company’s projections, 1,400 fans will be able to take the company’s underground high-speed electric vehicles through a tunnel called “The Dugout Loop” instead of sitting in traffic. That number can eventually rise to 2,800 fans. (The Boring Company)